Tagged: Katoki

Yes, yes, I’ve been sort of slacking with the Gunpla reviews. But don’t worry, I’ve got a good one this time! Yep, it’s the Geara Zulu, one of the kits I won at Otakon this year. Normally I don’t build kits like this. I much prefer to paint and stuff as I go, but I felt like doing a “rough build” this time around for the purpose of the review. I figured this makes it easier to tell what needs to be painted, especially when you consider that with a design like this… you’re going to need a LOT of paint.

The Geara Zulu is the primary grunt of Gundam Unicorn. This variant is called the “Guards Type”, which I believe is used by Neo Zeon officers. The kit itself is mostly made up of parts from both the standard Geara Zulu and Angelo Sauper’s custom unit. As a result, it has a bunch of spare parts, namely the sleeves, collar, and even the legs. I’m thinking of using some of them to construct a custom suit, maybe perhaps some blue and silver.

Also, I’m not one to complain about Katoki’s designs, but is it just me or do the legs seem REALLY long here?

There’s nothing too impressive as far as poseability is concerned. Bandai kinda peaked with their standard-issue HGUC poseability a few years ago. I do have some complaints, though. The skirt armor is a fused piece, which I’ve come to expect but it’s especially annoying here… it has to be cut down the whole seam. This could get messy.

Like all of the other Zeonic suits in Unicorn, the Geara Zulu has all sorts of little lines on it. Obviously this can’t be represented in plastic without any sort of paint applications, so this kit comes with TONS of stickers. I’m not going to bother with them of course, so I’m going to get myself a really, really thick paintbrush. I’m thinking of doing these details in silver instead of white, to better align the suit with the Sinanju. I might do those ugly yellowish details in gold, too. Continue reading →

Man, was 2001 really ten years ago? I remember back then, the 08th MS Team Gundam kits were showing up on American toy shelves. I got the Gouf Custom in the fall that year, and boy did I love it. I remember back then we still considered kits from the 0080 line–released twelve years ago at that point—to be good kits. I guess we never expected to see them outdone. Technology started improving drastically, and kits were getting better and better. The time to replace your old 0080 and 08th Team kits with their shiny new HGUC counterparts had come. And personally? I wasn’t willing to reject it.

The Gouf Custom is technically the second 08th MS Team suit to get an HGUC update, since I don’t think two versions of the Ground Gundam should be counted as two. It was a bit of a surprise to see this one before we got an Ez8, since that one would just reuse parts from the Gundam. Besides, what’s the fun in having a Gouf Custom with no Ez8 for it to beat up? I guess my old 08th Team one will have to play the role of punching bag for the time being. Continue reading →

Bandai likes to release suits based on the series they appear in, like, for a period of time, they do a bunch of suits from say, Zeta, mixed in with suits from Char’s Counterattack or 0080. But the suits that get releases always come in some weird order, like don’t you think that a GM Kai would’ve come out about six months after the Powered GM? Most of the parts were all there! I mean the Ball came out how many years after they finished the original series? Geez. Continue reading →